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Medical and Humanitarian Aid
AmeriCares has been providing medical and humanitarian aid to Romania for nearly two decades. Since 1990, AmeriCares has sent more than $165 million worth of lifesaving medicines, medical supplies and humanitarian relief to Romania.
AmeriCares was first allowed to help the people of Romania after the end of the country's authoritarian dictatorship under President Nicolae Ceauşescu. During the height of the international AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Ceauşescu denied to existence of disease, leading to a public health policy without infection proper control measures. As a result, thousands of orphans were infected with AIDS by dirty needles and blood transfusions intended to treat anemia and malnutrition. The aftermath of the AIDS crisis continues today, worsened by the impact of the 2009 global recession and dire shortages of medicines needed by HIV/AIDS patients.
In response, AmeriCares leads focused initiatives in Romania to increase the availability of treatment for patients pediatric HIV/AIDS. Among other things, AmeriCares provides anti-viral therapy for infected children through partnerships with the Baylor Black Sea Foundation and Constanta Infectious Disease Hospital. Through these partnerships, children receive comprehensive care, including treatment for conditions such as tuberculosis, anemia and respiratory infections.
AmeriCares other recent work in Romania largely centers around the treatment of hemophilia, an inherited disease that prevents blood from properly clotting. AmeriCares routinely sends shipments of hemophilia treatments to partner clinics in Romania's largest urban centers. For example, the Loius Turcanu Emergency Hospital for Children serves more than 2,000 hemophilia patients each year and is responsible for programs throughout the country.
The Hospital Clinic Fundeni is another leading provider of services for hemophilia patients. Impressed by the quality of care provided with limited resources, AmeriCares expanded support to include the Hospital's kidney disease unit, cancer center and cardiovascular department. The Hospital was built to serve nearly 400,000 people in Romania's capital city of Bucharest, however, government funding only provides for 1/3 of the hospital's intended patients. AmeriCares' donations ensure that a greater portion of the hospital's patients receive high-quality care and lifesaving treatment. In recent years, AmeriCares provided the Hospital Clinic with over $56 million worth of general medicine and equipment in addition to hemophilia treatment donations.
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